This invention relates generally to a compact and self-contained apparatus for water conditioning. More particularly, the compact water conditioning apparatus described herein allows the installation and operation of a water conditioning device in limited spaces typically encountered in the food service industry.
The requirement for conditioned water in the food service industry is well known. For example, conditioned water is often employed in dishwashing, in order to avoid the undesirable appearance of mineral or detergent residue. Further applications exist in beverage preparation, such as soft drinks, or in coffee preparation, in order to improve taste, and to avoid undesirable mineral deposits in dispensing machines.
Increasingly, an important conditioned water consumer in the food service industry is a food-steaming device, which is used to heat prepared food in food service establishments. When unconditioned domestic water is vaporized in these devices, they are particularly prone to fouling due to the accretion of mineral deposits in the steamer. Mineral fouling from unconditioned domestic water may result in increased energy costs in operation, and if not curtailed may eventually culminate in the complete failure of the steamer. As a result, manufacturers of food steamers frequently require that conditioned water be used in steamers, even in areas where the domestic water supply is relatively free of dissolved minerals.
Commercially available water conditioning devices are well known to those skilled in the art. Generally, prior art water conditioning devices are attached to the domestic water supply line, and allow mineral laden domestic water to flow through a bed of cation exchange resin beads to produce conditioned water. According to this method, the undesirable metallic ions present in the water, usually calcium, are exchanged for sodium ions embedded in the resin beads. When depletion of the available sodium ions in the resin beads occurs, exposing the resin beads to a sodium chloride solution, which is later discarded, recharges the unit. After recharging, the unit is then available for another water conditioning cycle.
Water conditioning units of this type are usually connected directly to the domestic water main, causing substantial internal pressures to result. Consequently, prior art water conditioning devices have generally favored the use of a cylindrical container for the cation exchange resin beads. A significant drawback associated with the use of cylindrical containers is an inefficient use of space, thereby compromising the favorable objective of compactness. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,043 issued to Dalton (xe2x80x9cthe Dalton patentxe2x80x9d) on Aug. 8, 1989 discloses a compact water conditioning apparatus that purports to be particularly suited to applications in the food service industry. However, the Dalton patent relies on a cylindrical container for the cation exchange resin beads. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,721 issued to Heskett on Jun. 1, 1976 discloses a water conditioning apparatus that also relies on cylindrical containers to withstand the internal pressure.
Accordingly, in view of the increasing use of food steamers in food service establishments and commercial kitchens, conventional water conditioning devices that are housed within large cylindrical containers according to the prior art are increasingly impractical since they compete for increasingly limited amounts of floor space in the kitchen area. More favorable utilization of space in food service establishments is achievable if the water conditioning apparatus container can be made to fit in a rectangularly shaped space. Moreover, it is advantageous to have the water conditioning apparatus rechargeable by on site kitchen personnel since the unit is frequently installed in a remote location, such as behind the conditioned water consumer. Such remote locations generally preclude convenient removal and replacement of the unit with a similar unit that has been recharged off-site. U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,043 to Noordhoff issued Sep. 3, 1996, discloses a water conditioning apparatus that uses a rectangular shaped container for containment of the cation exchange resin beads, thus achieving the favorable result of compactness, but lacks the important feature of self-contained serviceability, since it fails to disclose a salt solution tank and the necessary plumbing to achieve recharging in place.
Accordingly, there is a need in the food service industry for a water-conditioning apparatus that is compact, reliable, easily recharged without removal and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
Briefly, and in general terms, the present invention relates generally to a water conditioning apparatus that is compact and easily recharged without removal from the installation location. In one aspect, the present invention relates to a water conditioning apparatus that is generally rectangular in shape and is configured to fit into rectangularly shaped spaces of limited size. In another aspect, the water conditioning apparatus is configured to fit in a corner location. In still another aspect, the water conditioning apparatus is of modular configuration and includes a self-contained selector valve system.